Tag: wildfire

Categories
-Top News Canada USA

September Brings No Relief as Canada’s Wildfires Rage On

A top official at Natural Resources Canada said there is potential for increased wildland fire activity across Central Canada, from the eastern half of the province of Alberta to Ontario.…reports Asian Lite News

The ongoing wildfire crisis in Canada has reached unprecedented proportions, with officials warning that the raging fires have shown no sign of abating in September as well.

Providing the national update on this year’s fire season through a press conference on Thursday, the federal authorities of Canada stated that the country witnessed 6,174 wildfires, two of which have exceeded one million hectares, reports Xinhua news agency.

As per the data made public by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, nearly 1,000 wildfires are raging across the country to date, with more than 600 designated as out-of-control.

A top official at Natural Resources Canada said there is potential for increased wildland fire activity across Central Canada, from the eastern half of the province of Alberta to Ontario.

“This is largely in alignment with last month’s forecast, which anticipated that the potential area at extreme risk would include southern British Columbia, the Prairies, part of Northwest Territories, and western Ontario,” Michael Martin, director general at Natural Resources Canada, said at the press conference.

In recent months, raging wildfires threatened the country’s critical infrastructures while forcing the authorities to issue over 200 evacuation orders.

In August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened an emergency meeting to discuss the wildfire crisis in the Northwest Territories.

“Wildfires led to 284 evacuation orders while prompting a total of 232,209 Canadian evacuees in this season,” Martin further said, adding that despite the arrival of cooler night temperatures and decreasing lightning activity in the fall, ongoing warm and dry conditions may contribute to new fire starts.

“Some of the newer fires will continue to be active throughout September and possibly later into autumn,” he warned.

During this season, the wildfires predominantly raged throughout the province of Quebec, with 5.3 million hectares burned; Northwest Territories 3.6 million hectares; Alberta 2.3 million hectares; B.C. 1.9 million hectares; and Nova Scotia 25,000 hectares, according to details provided by officials based on data collected through satellite hotspots.

Federal authorities said they have continuously mobilized resources across the country for recovery and rebuilding amid growing calls for a national wildfire fighting force, more aid for evacuees and financial help to rebuild.

As of early September, 4,714 firefighting personnel have been deployed to battle the wildland fires, according to official figures.

During the press conference, Harjit Sajjan, president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and minister of emergency preparedness, shed light on the previously announced funding while providing brief details about recently greenlit Canadian government programs.

“The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for Canadians. Community members have been forced to leave their homes, not knowing if their homes will still be there when they return,” he added.

“Thankfully, in Yellowknife, thousands of people are beginning to return home after three long weeks. We continue to mobilize resources across the country, and we will be there throughout the recovery.”

Meanwhile, the Canadian economy has been impacted by the wildfires.

In its latest projection on Wednesday, the Bank of Canada said that its target for the benchmark interest rate stood at 5 per cent.

Economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter of 2023, with output contracting by 0.2 per cent at an annualised rate, reflecting a marked weakening in consumption growth, a decline in housing activity and the impact of wildfires in many regions of the country, the bank said.

Last week, Statistics Canada said that the country’s real gross domestic product by industry was essentially unchanged in the second quarter of 2023 after seven quarters of growth.

Growing drought and wildfires in many regions of the country contributed to lower crop production in the quarter as the yield outlook for the year declined.

ALSO READ-Wildfires burn 60,000 hectares in Italy this year

Categories
-Top News Environment USA

Hundreds Still Missing In Hawaii After Deadly Wildfires

Hawaii wildfires

The “validated list”, curated by the FBI, includes 388 names, as cell phone data now also is being used to try to pinpoint where victims may have been when the wildfire tore through Hawaii’s Maui Island, reports Asian Lite News

Nearly 400 people remain unaccounted for following the devastating wildfires in Hawaii’s Maui Island which have claimed at least 115 lives since its eruption on August 8.

The “validated list”, curated by the FBI, includes 388 names, as cell phone data now also is being used to try to pinpoint where victims may have been when the deadliest US wildfire disaster in more than 100 years tore through the island, CNN quoted the Maui County as saying. 

“We’re releasing this list of names because we know that it will help with the investigation,” Police Chief John Pelletier said in a statement.

“We also know that once those names come out, it can and will cause pain for folks whose loved ones are listed. This is not an easy thing to do, but we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible.”

The FBI has worked with agencies “to unduplicate people that have been reported missing”, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green had said on Thursday.

Hawaii wildfires

Wind-whipped flames tore through the Maui Island on August 8 following the historic town of Lahaina was left in ruins, with entire neighbourhoods and businesses reduced to ash,reports CNN.

As search crews and cadaver dogs have searched 100 per cent of single-storey homes in the disaster area, they were now going through multistorey homes and commercial properties, Maui County officials had said earlier in the week.

ALSO READ: Biden, First Lady survey Hawaii wildfire devastation

Categories
-Top News World News

185 Countries Launch Innovative Biodiversity Fund

The new fund was ratified and launched at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Vancouver, where two countries announced initial contributions to start its capitalisation….reports Asian Lite News

Amid a record wildfires in British Columbia, a good news for nature in a challenging moment came, with representatives of 185 countries agreed at the Global Environment Facility’s Seventh Assembly here to launch an innovative new fund for biodiversity that will attract funding from governments, philanthropy and the private sector.

The new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has been designed to mobilise and accelerate investment in the conservation and sustainability of wild species and ecosystems, whose health is under threat from wildfires, flooding, extreme weather and human activity, including urban sprawl.

The new fund was ratified and launched at the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Vancouver, where two countries announced initial contributions to start its capitalisation. This included 200 million Canadian dollars from Canada and 10 million pounds from the UK.

The GEF Assembly has brought together 1,500 people from around the world, including environmental leaders and managers from government, business, academia and civil society, including Indigenous people, women and young people.

The once-every-four-year gathering is taking place during a record wildfire season in British Columbia and at the start of what is expected to be a record hurricane season in North America, fuelled by record Pacific and Atlantic ocean temperatures.

“Countries have come together in Vancouver to turn things around for the health of the planet and its people. This is a hugely positive moment that will be remembered far into the future. We have shown at the Seventh GEF Assembly that even in difficult conditions — with wildfire smoke as our backdrop — we can move forward to build a more biodiverse planet for everyone’s benefit,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF.

The GBFF’s ratification came eight months after the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed on a historic set of global biodiversity goals known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and decided to set up a new GEF-managed fund to support its implementation.

The GEF is a family of funds supporting developing countries’ action on inter-related environmental challenges, including biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution. In June, the GEF Council approved the arrangements to establish the fund during a meeting in Brazil.

The contributions announced in Vancouver will support action towards halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 and putting nature on a recovery path by 2050.

“Biodiversity is the critical foundation of our well-being and the health of our planet. The new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund will play a key role in addressing biodiversity loss. It will address it in developing countries, where the impacts of nature loss are highest; it will address it in a gender-responsive manner, including through cross-sectoral partnerships; it will address it in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the lands and seas,” said Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of International Development.

“Canada is making a significant contribution to this new fund and continuing to show our support for the GEF’s eighth replenishment to ensure the protection of our planet’s biodiversity for generations to come.”

Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said, “We are at a pivotal time of unprecedented environmental challenges as the world is being confronted by the triple crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.”

“The urgency of a global response has never been greater. Over the last eight months, since COP-15, we have seen outstanding collaboration between countries and international partners, and we need to keep the momentum going. Canada’s longstanding partnership with the GEF is central to our efforts and underscores our shared commitment to collaboration and climate action,” he added.

“As we confront the critical challenge of halting and reversing biodiversity loss around the world, working together has never been more important. Our initial contribution to the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund showcases the UK’s ongoing dedication to protecting our planet’s natural diversity and through vital international cooperation we are paving the way for a more sustainable future for our planet,” said the UK Nature Minister Trudy Harrison.

The new fund will mobilise and disburse new and additional resources from public, private and philanthropic sources, with a focus on the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystems.

As much as 20 per cent of its resources will support Indigenous-led initiatives to protect and conserve biodiversity. It will also prioritise support for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries, which will receive more than a third of the fund’s resources.

“The creation of this fund and its commitment to supporting Indigenous Peoples and local communities is an important and clear recognition of the fundamental role they have had for generations protecting biodiversity,” said Lucy Mulenkei, Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity.

“We welcome the ratification and launch of the fund. We also welcome the contributions from donors which will facilitate the early operationalisation of the fund in advance of COP-16. This shows the determination of the world community to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and shows that the world is moving from agreement to action,” said David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Applauding the GEF Assembly for ratifying the GBF Fund, Oscar Soria, Avaaz campaign director, said: “The time for half-measures has passed; now is the moment to confront this crisis head-on.”

“The GEF must rise to this moment of urgency by ensuring robust and direct financial support to empower IPLCs in their critical roles and efforts, and by prioritising indigenous-led ecosystem management strategies with the necessary financial resources to continue protecting our planet.”

“Surely donors can come up with the paltry $40 million needed to operationalise the GBF Fund today.”

With wildfires wreaking havoc in British Columbia, where the meeting is taking place, but also in many other areas around the world, like Hawaii, the Amazon and the Congo basin, Avaaz, a global movement uniting nearly 70 million members across nations, stressed the pivotal role of Indigenous Peoples in safeguarding biodiversity and preventing environmental contingencies such as wildfires.

ALSO READ: BRICS Nations Back India’s G20 Presidency

Categories
-Top News Environment USA

Emergency Evacuation Ordered as Wildfires Threaten Merryville, Louisiana

For residents who need transportation out, buses have been made available at the Merryville town hall, the sheriff’s office said…reports Asian Lite News

Amid an ongoing drought and extreme heat, raging wildfires have prompted the evacuation of residents of a town in the US state of Louisiana, authorities said.

The evacuation order for Merryville town was issued by the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office Thursday evening, saying the fire could reach the town limits within hours, CNN reported citing the Louisiana State Police.

Merryville has a population of about 1,200 people, sheriff’s office spokesperson Shannon Burgess told CNN.

The town is located just east of the state border with Texas, about 120 miles northeast of Houston.

For residents who need transportation out, buses have been made available at the Merryville town hall, the sheriff’s office said.

“We had buses immediately headed that way,” Burgess said, adding that a shelter has been opened at the First Methodist Church in DeRidder, northeast of Merryville.

Earlier this week, there were almost 350 wildfires burning in the state, CNN quoted Mike Steele, communications director at the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, as saying.

Every parish in the state is under a red flag warning, according to the National Weather Service.

State emergency operations centers were activated on Wednesday morning to help battle the blazes.

As of Thursday, more than 10,000 acres have burned in Beauregard Parish.

Lake Charles, around 40 miles southeast of Merryville, has seen temperatures over 37 degrees Celsius every day since August 18 and temperatures over 35 degrees since June 29.

ALSO READ-Biden, First Lady survey Hawaii wildfire devastation

Categories
-Top News Europe

Wildfires force over 12,000 people to evacuate Spanish island

Firefighters battle a wildfire in Cebreros, Castilla y Leon, Spain, on July 21, 2022. (Junta de Castilla y Leon/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)

The blaze broke out on Wednesday in a mountainous national park around the Mount Teide volcano – Spain’s highest peak – amid hot and dry weather…reports Asian Lite News

Thousands of Tenerife residents have been evacuated as a wildfire deemed “out of control” by officials rages on for the fourth day, Al Jazeera reported.

According to preliminary estimates, more than 26,000 people had been evacuated by Saturday afternoon in the Canary Islands, up from 4,500 on Friday. Eleven towns are presently affected.

The Atlantic island has a population of approximately one million people and is a popular tourist destination.

The archipelago of seven islands is located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain. The islands are 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Morocco at their closest point.

As per the Al Jazeera, the fire flames lit up the night sky overnight and helicopters were seen dropping water on areas close to home where smoke billowed into the air.

The report revealed that some 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) have been burned so far with a perimeter of 50km (30 miles).

The fire was at a scale never been seen before in the Canary Islands, Tenerife Council President Rosa Davila told reporters. She said the priority was to “protect people’s lives”.

The blaze has not destroyed any homes so far, she added, citing the fire brigade.

While the two popular tourist areas of the island have so far been unaffected and its two airports have been operating normally.

The fire is blazing in the steep mountain area with pine trees making it harder for the firefighters to access the location.

The blaze broke out on Wednesday in a mountainous national park around the Mount Teide volcano – Spain’s highest peak – amid hot and dry weather.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change, reported Al Jazeera.

Scorching heat and dry weather this year have contributed to unusually severe wildfires in Europe, including in Spain’s La Palma Island in July, and Canada. Blazes on Hawaii’s Maui Island earlier this month killed more than 110 people and wrecked the historic resort city of Lahaina.

Scientists have said climate change has led to more frequent and more powerful extreme weather events.

European Union officials also blamed global warming for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe, noting 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Wildfires: Evacuation efforts continue in Canada

Categories
-Top News Canada

Canadian army rescues hundreds amid unprecedented wildfires

The declaration allows the city to take pre-emptive steps to respond and to prepare residents to leave at a moment’s notice…reports Asian Lite News

The Canadian army has airlifted hundreds of people to safety amid raging wildfires in the country’s Northwest Territories, the media reported.

Canada is currently witnessing its worst wildfire season on record, with nearly 1,100 active fires across the country as of Tuesday, the BBC reported.

A total of 13.2m hectaresof land have burned so far — roughly the size of Greece.

As a result of the raging wildfires, the Canadian government has deployed its military to the Northwest Territories to help fight the fires and coordinate evacuations.

On Monday night, Yellowknife — the territorial capital — has declared a local state of emergency due to the “imminent threat” of wildfires.

The declaration allows the city to take pre-emptive steps to respond and to prepare residents to leave at a moment’s notice.

The Northwest Territories witnessed its hottest temperature on record this July, reaching 37.4 degrees Celsius in the  community of Fort Good Hope.

Wildfires are also burning in British Columbia, where several heat warnings are in effect this week due to record-high temperatures.

ALSO READ-Biden promises visit to wildfire stricken Hawaii amid criticism

Categories
-Top News USA

Biden promises visit to wildfire stricken Hawaii amid criticism

Over 500 federal emergency personnel have so far been dispatched to help with relief efforts, including 150 search and rescue specialists…reports Asian Lite News

Amid criticism of his administration’s response to the deadly wildfires in Hawaii’s Maui Island that have killed at least 99 people so far, US President Joe Biden has vowed to visit the state “as soon as he can”.

Addressing reporters in Milwaukee on Tuesday, Biden said he wanted to ensure that the people in the state had “everything they need”, reports the BBC.

The President said that he hadn’t visited yet because of concerns that doing so would divert resources and attention from the humanitarian response.

He also announced that First Lady Jill Biden will accompany him to Hawaii.

“I don’t want to get in the way. I’ve been to too many disaster areas. I want to be sure we don’t disrupt ongoing recovery efforts,” the BBC quoted the President as saying

Over 500 federal emergency personnel have so far been dispatched to help with relief efforts, including 150 search and rescue specialists.

Additional personnel are being sent to Maui to help those already on the ground, President Biden said, adding that “all available federal assets” in the region will be used for recovery efforts, including the US military and Coast Guard.

“It’s painstaking work. It takes time and it’s nerve wracking. Every asset they need will be there for them. And we’ll be there in Maui as long as it takes.”

But as authorities fear an increase in the death toll in the coming days, Hawaii residents have complained about the pace of the federal government’s response to the disaster.

On Monday, Governor Josh Green said that only 25 per cent of the affected area had been properly searched for human remains.

Approximately 80 per cent of Lahaina — a historic town of about 12,000 residents — has been completely destroyed in the blaze.

As frustration builds among the residents, a local Les Munn, told the BBC that he has so far received only $500 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) which has approved one-time payments of $700 per household to help with immediate needs in the wake of the disaster.

Another local, Felicia Johnson, said that “everybody wants the glory but nobody wants to put their feet on the ground”.

On a street above the fire line in Lahaina, a woman told the BBC said she feared she would starve to death in the days after the fire.

Ahead of a second trip into the worst-hit area, Amory Mowrey spent $1,700 to load his and his friend’s SUVs with toilet paper, cases of water, packs of batteries and sacks of rice.

“We’re just trying to get supplies as fast as possible into the affected areas so people get what they need,” he told the BBC. “There’s a lack of response, it felt like, from large organisations.”

Liz Germansky, who lost her home in the fire, said that “the government’s getting in the way of people helping”.

“I don’t think the government could have done less,” she told the BBC.

The Hawaii wildfires now the deadliest in more than a century in modern US history, surpassing the Camp Fire that erupted on November 8, 2018, in California and killed at least 85 people.

ALSO READ-Hawaii wildfire death toll hits 99

Categories
-Top News Environment USA

Deadliest wildfires in modern US history devastate Maui Island

The Lahaina fire, the devastating wildfire that leveled Lahaina, was 85 per cent contained as of Sunday night, the Maui County said in an update on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

As the death toll rose due to the wildfires in Hawaii’s Maui Island has incrased to 96, the US state’s Governor Josh Green warned that 10 to 20 more wildfire victims could be found per day as search crews continue to comb through the scorched ruins.

These wildfires are the deadliest in more than a century in modern US history, surpassing the Camp Fire that erupted on November 8, 2018 in California that killed at least 85 people, reports Xinhua news agency.

The wildfires have nearly completely destroyed the historic town of Lahaina, a popular tourist spot on Maui and once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

It’s home to around 13,000 residents.

In an interview with CBS News on Monday, Green said that there was a grim expectation of further casualties.

“There are more fatalities that will come. The fire was so hot that what we find is the tragic finding that you would imagine, as though a fire has come through and it’s hard to recognise anybody,” he said.

All residents of Lahaina have either escaped or perished in the fire, but it could take 10 days for a full death toll to be determined as crews could find “10 to 20 people per day probably until they finish”, the Governor told CBS News.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said at a news conference that canines had searched only 3 per cent of impacted areas.

The Lahaina fire, the devastating wildfire that leveled Lahaina, was 85 per cent contained as of Sunday night, the Maui County said in an update on Monday.

More than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed and 2,170 acres have burned as a result of the Lahaina fire, according to the assessment of the Pacific Disaster Center, an applied research center managed by the University of Hawaii, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The assessment showed that the estimated cost to rebuild could reach $5.52 billion. 

Meanwhile, a lawsuit has been filed against Hawaiian Electric, alleging a downed power line on Maui caused the deadly wildfire.

The cause of the fires has not been determined, but plaintiffs said in the 37-page document that the utility company’s equipment could be a possible source of ignition.

Hawaiian Electric, which operates the utility that serves Maui, had come under scrutiny for not turning off power despite weather forecasters’ warnings that dry, gusty winds could create critical fire conditions.

The plaintiffs said the destruction “could have been avoided” if the utility company shut down its power lines before the high winds hit the island.

“By failing to shut off the power during these dangerous fire conditions, defendants caused loss of life, serious injuries, destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses, displacement of thousands of people, and damage to many of Hawaii’s historic and cultural sites,” said the complaint.

Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Jim Kelly told NBC News and other news outlets that the company would not comment on pending litigation, saying its immediate focus is supporting emergency response efforts and restoring power.

Shares of Hawaiian Electric plunged 39 per cent on Monday amid Wall Street concerns over the company’s potential liability in the Maui wildfires.

Last year, California’s largest utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) reached a $117 million settlement agreement in connection with the 2017 North Bay fires and the 2018 Camp Fire.

The 2017 fires were sparked by downed power lines owned by PG&E, and the Camp Fire was sparked by faulty electrical equipment operated by the same company, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

PG&E was driven into bankruptcy in 2019 and since then, power companies in California, Oregon and Nevada have decided to preemptively shut off power when high, dry winds could spark catastrophic fires.

ALSO READ-93 lives lost in Maui Wildfire, deadliest US fire in a century

Categories
-Top News Environment World

Heat, Flames, Floods: Summer 2023’s Triple Threat

Heat, wildfires, floods make summer of 2023 ‘a summer of extremes’

The summer of 2023 is “a summer of extremes” due to the scorching heat, wildfires and floods that have resulted in major damage to people’s health and the environment, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said.

Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the WMO, said at a press briefing here on Friday that dangerous weather, including intense heat and devastating rainfall, has impacted large parts of the world in this “summer of extremes”, reports Xinhua news agency

She said many new station temperature records around the world were broken in July, and the start of August also saw a winter heat wave in parts of South America.

In a series of updates on extreme weather, WMO said earlier this week that many countries like France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia all reported new maximum daytime and overnight station temperature records.

Large parts of the US have also been gripped by extensive heat waves.

“We need to broaden focus beyond maximum temperatures because the minimum temperature is most important for health and critical infrastructure,” said WMO extreme heat senior advisor John Nairn.

WMO pointed out that heatwaves are among the deadliest natural hazards with thousands of people dying from heat-related causes each year, while the full impact of a heatwave is often not known until weeks or months afterwards.

According to WMO, sea surface temperatures of the Mediterranean are set to be exceptionally high in the coming days and weeks, exceeding 30 degrees Celsius in some parts, and more than 4 degrees Celsius above average in a large part of the western Mediterranean.

WMO believes that the impacts of marine heatwaves include migration of species and extinctions, arrival of invasive species with consequences for fisheries and aquaculture.

A wildfire is seen in Riverside County of Southern California, the United States.(Xinhua/IANS)

Speaking at Friday’s press briefing, the WMO spokesperson also said that Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record.

In Canada, record-breaking wildfires continue to burn big forest areas.

More than 650 wildfires were out of control as of July 24.

And earlier this week WMO said wildfires had forced evacuation of hundreds of residents and tourists on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Evia and Corfu since July 17.

The emissions of these wildfires have reached record levels.

Heavy rains and flooding also caused severe damage and loss of life in parts of the world.

India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel during the rescue operation of people stuck in the flood-affected Rishi Colony area after heavy monsoon rains caused rapid rise in the water level of Badi Nadi river, in Patiala. (ANI Photo)

“As the planet warms, the expectation is that we will see more and more intense, more frequent, more severe rainfall events, leading also to more severe flooding,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, director of hydrology, water and cryosphere at WMO.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas noted that “the extreme weather — an increasingly frequent occurrence in our warming climate — is having a major impact on human health, ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies”.

“This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible,” said Taalas.

ALSO READ: Canada wildfire carbon emissions exceed 1 bn tonnes

Categories
Canada Environment

Canada wildfire carbon emissions exceed 1 bn tonnes

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has again drifted to the US, placing American cities among the most polluted in the world…reports Asian Lite News

The massive carbon dioxide emissions from the raging wildfires in Canada have exceeded one billion tonnes, according to a study by Chinese scientists.

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emitted by the wildfires in Canada have a noticeable impact on global warming and the wildfires have evolved into a global environmental event, said Liu Zhihua, a researcher from the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences who led the study.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC), as of July 26 local time, there were 4,774 fires across the country, and the cumulative fire area has exceeded 121,000 square kilometers.

The researchers conducted a rapid assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from the wildfires based on remote sensing observations.

It is estimated that as of July 26 local time, the wildfires in Canada have directly emitted about one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect of methane and nitrous oxide emissions is about 110 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and the total greenhouse gas emissions are about 1.11 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

This number has exceeded Japan’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions of 1.067 billion tonnes in 2021, according to data cited from the Global Carbon Project.

In addition to affecting the climate, the wildfires in Canada also released air pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, organic aerosols, and black carbon, which harm human health.

In June, the air quality in New York, Chicago, and other places in the United States deteriorated significantly. These air pollutants are also transported over long distances worldwide under westerly circulation, affecting areas in Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

The wildfires have also wreaked havoc on forest ecosystems. The rapidly burning wildfires led to extensive vegetation destruction and biodiversity loss, depriving animals of habitats and food sources.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has again drifted to the US, placing American cities among the most polluted in the world. Detroit, New York and Chicago have the worst air quality in the US, ranking 13th, 15th and 20th, respectively, among the world’s most polluted cities, according to real-time data from IQAir.

The National Weather Service has issued an air-quality alert for a large swath of the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region, with millions of people expected to be affected.

Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has filled U.S. skies with an unhealthy haze for weeks, becoming a hallmark of the 2023 summer. The smoke raises a number of questions, from why the fires have lasted so long to how smoke keeps ruining air quality for tens millions of people in the U.S.

For many people, the smoke is worse than any other time in recent memory. And there are concerns about whether this might simply be the new normal — if people in the central and eastern U.S. should simply get used to the idea that their summers will be marked by weeks of smoke rather than blue skies and clear sunshine.

ALSO READ: Canada’s fresh sanctions target Wagner Group